Halting selective actions against polytechnics

The recent statement by the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) rejecting the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board’s policy that stipulates different cut-off marks for students seeking admission into the nation’s universities, polytechnics and colleges of education could not have come at a more auspicious time than now.

Although NUT explained that the policy is targeted “at demeaning and lowering the professional status of teachers with its concomitant negative effect on the attainment of quality education in the country”, we in addition see it as spiting the quality of polytechnic education in Nigeria. In reality up till now, the cut off mark for entry into key disciplines like Accounting, Business, Engineering, Mass Communication in many Nigerian Polytechnics remains 180 and above. It is therefore misleading and spiteful of JAMB to give the public the impression that the blanket cut off mark into all disciplines in the Polytechnic is 150.

Writing further on the selective and discriminatory tendencies of the federal government and its agencies against polytechnic education in Nigeria, we hasten to declare that August 1, presidential announcement that removed the governing councils of universities from boards dissolution list without including the Polytechnic Councils is another seriously spiteful and regrettable action against the standing of polytechnic education. We gather that whereas the governing councils of both federal universities and polytechnics have specified tenure of office backed by Acts of the National Assembly and therefore part of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, the federal government upheld the law when it rescinded the dissolution of the universities’ governing councils but the government is yet to do so for the polytechnics.

Although the very terse August 1, presidential announcement had promised to provide details of perhaps why the governing councils of universities got an exemption, no such details have since emerged and this has therefore thrown up all manners of speculation.In particular, this is almost a month after the reversal on universities councils was made and there has not been further statement or clarification from the presidency with regard to the fate of the polytechnics, thus reinforcing (in some quarters) the suspected discriminatory tendencies against polytechnics by the federal government.

However, one thing has been very clear. While we appreciate the fact that the universities have men of “timber and calibre” ready to champion their cause and that might explain the prompt action taken by the federal government to re-instate the dissolved councils of federal universities, regrettably the polytechnics do not have such “respected” personalities speaking for them.

We have taken a careful note of how well-placed and respected Nigerians like Chief Afe Babalola, Prof. Assisi Asobie, Brigadier-General D.O.I. Ikponmwen and others took it upon themselves to speak for the universities before the August 1, reversal. We believe that their actions stoked some re-awakening in the presidency which ultimately led to the reversal. We wonder why such Nigerians could not pursue the same argument for polytechnics which have similar mandate and tenured governing councils like the universities.

For instance, in his piece titled “Government Interference: Premature Dissolution of Governing Councils” published in four series in the Nigerian Tribune, Chief Afe Babalola, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and proprietor of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti devoted the first two series of the write-up to discuss extensively the education sector in Nigeria and how certain conducts of government over the years, such as the constant premature dissolution of governing councils by successive governments have contributed to the instability in the education sector and therefore contributed to the decline in standard.

An anonymous writer who did not buy Babalola’s position had supported the dissolution of the universities governing councils but the legal luminary was quick to counter it in the third phase of his long article by stating thus: “I am aware of the provisions in Section 2 of the Universities Miscellaneous Provision Amendment Act 2003. It reinforces my submission that it is not possible to have blanket dissolution of all councils the way the president did. The critically relevant clause is “where a council is found to be incompetent and corrupt.”

“The requirement of our constitution and the well-known “rule of natural justice” is that the alleged act of incompetence and corruption must be brought to the knowledge of the particular university council which will be given the opportunity to defend itself. Thereafter, there must be a finding of incompetence and corruption.

Babalola continued: “You will agree that under the said section, it is a condition precedent that the council cannot be dissolved unless it has been FOUND to be incompetent and corrupt. In the present case, there was no allegation much less of finding of incompetence and corruption against any of the universities councils. It is a classic example of illegal dissolution,” he argued.

A one-time Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Prof. Assisi Asobie in July 22, The Guardian interview among other things, spoke on the dissolution of universities and said, “I want to believe that the president acted in error.”

He cautioned against dissolution of governing councils of universities saying: “Most people in the universities do not know there is an agreement with the ASUU in 1992 that governing councils would be allowed to run their course and should not be subjected to this kind of mass dissolution. Government will reverse itself in this very important aspect of our national lives,” he said.

Retired Brigadier-General Ikponmwen in his own article entitled “The tenure of political appointees in the Nigerian presidential system” similarly argued that grouping councils of federal universities under the federal executive bodies would undermine the independence and autonomy of universities which stakeholders have vehemently argued for, in recent times.

It is unarguable that the positions of these three Nigerians canvassing on behalf of the federal universities governing councils may have helped to cause a re-think at the presidency which in turn resulted in the decision to reverse the earlier dissolution of universities councils.

We are dismayed that while the average Nigerian would want to speak in favour of the universities governing councils like Babalola, Asobie, Ikponmwen had done, others would discriminatorily dismiss the case of federal polytechnics as if they are not aware that both universities and polytechnics are governed by councils that have statutory mandate and stipulated term of office.

While the tenure of a federal university’s governing council is four years, federal polytechnic councils have three year term with possible renewal for another term. Like the case of universities councils, the dissolution of a polytechnic council is on the ground of misconduct or inability to perform in office. Therefore, incompetence and corrupt practice remain common conditions for termination of office in both cases of governing councils of federal universities and polytechnics.

If that is the case, why should the issue of polytechnics be left unattended to? Why has the federal government not acted swiftly by reversing the dissolution order like the case of federal universities? It all boils down to the speculation that while the universities have people to speak for them, the polytechnics have nobody to defend their cause. This is naked discrimination!

Those of us who are graduates of Nigeria’s polytechnics are increasingly becoming disenchanted with a system that promotes and believes in discriminatory philosophy at a time there is so much to show for our competence like our university counterparts.

It has become hugely worrisome that in spite of our possession of the same relevant entry qualification into the polytechnics like our university colleagues and spending four years for the Higher National Diploma (B.Sc equivalent) in addition to a one-year compulsory industrial work experience in between the National Diploma and Higher National Diploma programmes, the government still finds it convenient to promote “divide and rule tactics” aimed at discriminating against the polytechnic graduate vis-à-vis his university counterpart.

Whereas we are fully grateful to enlightened employers of labour who call for B.Sc or HND holders to fill graduate employment openings in their organisations, we strongly condemn those other employers who have leveraged on the wrong universities/polytechnics dichotomy signals from the federal government and similarly mistreat polytechnic graduates same way. Often times, competence is ignored at the altar of preference for the university product. This discriminatory practice is fast widening the gap between products of the two systems of tertiary education. We submit that this is absolutely not going to create a healthy society that needs urgent scientific and technological development.

Any show of dichotomy in the treatment of universities vis-à-vis polytechnics at any level is bound to hurt the psyche, confidence and competitive spirit of the past, current and future students of Nigerian polytechnics. We do not expect our dear PMB to be part of this discriminatory attitude towards the polytechnics especially as he has proclaimed that he is for every body and for nobody and his administration is set to correct many things gone wrong in our society.

We, on our part, are therefore praying the Muhammadu Buhari administration to start the process of harmonizing the university and polytechnic systems in a manner that is devoid of any discriminatory tendencies and begin by reversing the dissolution of federal polytechnics governing councils the same way those of the universities were done.

Biachi and Olagoke are graduates of Nigerian polytechnics and live in Port Harcourt and Lagos respectively.